JPS5923413Y2 - clamp device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a clamp device used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various clamp devices are known that have a ring-shaped clamp portion and clamp an object to be clamped in an inserted state.

However, in the conventional clamping apparatus, the posture of the object to be clamped may change from a predetermined posture due to unbalanced clamping force or the like.

For this reason, when a clamp device is used to position a wafer support in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, such as one that prints a circuit pattern by bringing the wafer into contact with a mask, the clamping position of the support changes, causing the wafer and mask to change. There have been problems such as misalignment of the contacts, resulting in printing errors, and the need for time-consuming contact alignment.

The present invention was developed to solve such problems, and it is possible to clamp the object to be clamped without impairing its predetermined posture, thereby improving printing accuracy when applied to, for example, semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clamping device which can improve the positioning and also quickly perform positioning.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, the basic configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. 1. A clamp ring 3 is supported by a predetermined external frame 1 via an external ring 2 in a gyro-goma shape so that it can be freely moved in any direction.

Next, the configuration of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, such as a mask aligner, will be explained in detail with reference to FIG.

The external frame 1 consists of a cylindrical cover 1a, upper and lower covers 1b, and an IC provided at both ends of the cover la.

Inside this external frame 1, the upper and lower surfaces of the external ring 2, on the centerline side of the base 2, are supported by spherical supports 4.5 so as to be swingable in one direction (to the left in the figure).

The upper support 4 is held on the lower surface of the upper lid 1b with a maximum separation adjustment screw 6 so that its height can be adjusted.

Further, the lower support 5 is supported on the upper surface of a separation adjustment ring 7 provided on the lower lid 1C.

This separation adjustment ring 7 is of an upper and lower split type with an inflatable rubber tube 8 inserted therein, and the entire separation adjustment ring 7 is placed on the lower lid 1C via a spring 9 and a spherical support 10. be.

Air for adjusting separation intervals is supplied to the rubber tube 8 via a joint 11.

On the other hand, inside the outer ring 2, two places each on the center line of the upper and lower surfaces of the clamp ring 3 are fixed with spherical supports 12 and 13 in a direction perpendicular to the swinging direction of the outer ring 2 (front-back direction in the figure). Supports free movement.

Thereby, the clamp ring 3 is able to swing freely in all directions relative to the external frame 1 via the external ring 2.

Note that the clamp ring 3 and the outer ring 2 are connected by a connecting rod 14.
, so that only the rotation of the outer ring 2 is transmitted to the clamp ring.

A clamp plate spring 15 is disposed in a ring shape on the inner circumference of the clamp ring 3, and a tube 16 made of an elastic material, for example, rubber, is disposed between the plate spring 15 and the clamp ring 3.
is designed to be expandable and contractible.

Clamping air is supplied to the tube 16 through a joint 17, which inflates the tube 16 and presses the leaf spring 15 toward the axis to provide a clamping force.

A spherical support 18 is inserted between the circumferential sides of the outer frame 1 and the outer ring 2, and a rotating lever 19 directly connected to the outer ring 2 is provided on the outer side of the outer frame 1. ing.

On the other hand, a piston 20 as an object to be clamped is slidably fitted onto a piston guide 21.

The piston guide 21 is loosely inserted into the hole 1d in the center of the upper lid 1b and the inside of the clamp ring 3, and is fixed onto the lower lid 1C via joints 22.degree.23.24.

The first joint 22 communicates with the sliding fitting gap between the piston 20 and the piston guide 21 through a communication hole 22a, and the sliding fitting portion is lubricated by sending high pressure air thereto.

Further, the second joint 23 communicates with a suction part 27 of a wafer chuck 26 provided at the upper end of the piston 20 via a communication hole 23a and a flexible tube provided in the piston guide 21, such as a vinyl tube 25. Then, a vacuum for wafer suction is added.

Further, the third joint 24 communicates with the inside of the piston 20 through a communication hole 24a, and is configured to supply high-pressure air for raising and lowering the piston 20.

Chuck seals 27 and 28 are provided on the upper and lower sides of the wafer chuck 26, respectively.

Further, a leveling disk 29 is provided between the upper end of the piston 20 and the wafer chuck 26.

The mask 30 is provided protrudingly from the lower surface of the mask clamp ring 31, and the lower peripheral portion of the mask 30 is attached to the mask holder 31.
It is surrounded by

With such a configuration, pattern printing can be performed reliably without errors as described below.

That is, first, the wafer 32 is placed on the wafer chuck 26 and fixed by applying vacuum to the joint 23, and when high pressure air is sent to the joint 24, the piston 20
rises along the piston guide 21.

Thus, wafer 32 contacts mask 30.

At this time, since the wafer chuck 26 is supported by the piston 20 via the pairing disk 29, its posture is adjusted according to the mask 30.

Next, when high pressure air is applied to joint 17, tube 1
6 expands, the leaf spring 15 is pressed inward, and the piston 2
0 and clamp ring 3 are clamped.

Next, when the high-pressure air supplied to the joint 24 is switched to vacuum by an external solenoid valve (not shown), the piston 20 descends along the piston guide 21.

At this time, since the piston 20 is clamped by the clamp ring 3, it moves down together with the outer ring 2, clamp ring 3, and separation adjustment ring 7.

Then, the piston 20 descends by the gap between the outer ring 2 and the separation adjustment ring 7 and stops.

This amount of descent (separation interval) changes depending on the pressure of the air applied to the joint 11.

That is, the tapered surface of the separation adjustment ring 7 on the support 10 is elastically deformed, and the position where the separation adjustment ring 7 is supported by the support 10 changes.

In this way, with the wafer 32 slightly spaced apart from the mask 30, the pans of the mask 30 and the wafer 32 are aligned by operating the XY table (not shown) and the rotary lever 19.

At this time, since the wafer 32 is spaced apart from the mask 30, the wafer 32 will not be damaged by sliding contact with the mask 30, and since the gap is the minimum gap that allows alignment, the accuracy of pattern matching can be improved. can be improved.

After pattern alignment in this manner, high pressure is again applied to the joint 24 to bring the mask 30 and wafer 32 into close contact with each other.

At this time, disturbances in the clamping of the piston 20, deviations in the contact position between the mask 30 and the wafer 32, etc. are hardly caused because the clamp ring 3 is rotatable and follows the piston 20 to take a copying posture.

Thereafter, exposure is performed to print a pattern on the wafer 32.

Once completed, the high-pressure air supply to the joint 17 can be stopped, the clamp removed, and the joint 24 can be pulled down with a vacuum to lower the piston 20.

As described above, when the present invention is applied to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, it is possible to eliminate the wobbling of the piston and improve the alignment accuracy between the mask and the wafer.

This effect is particularly remarkable when the apparatus of the present invention is of the proximity type (the wafer and mask do not come into contact during exposure).

In addition, in the above embodiment, the support 4 of the clamp ring 3,
Although 5 is made into a spherical shape, the present invention is not limited to such a shape. For example, as shown in FIG. It is something that can be played.

As described above in detail in the embodiments, according to the present invention, the object to be clamped can be clamped without changing its predetermined posture, and various positioning operations can be performed reliably and quickly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 show one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, Figure 2 is a sectional view, and Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the invention. be. 1... External frame, 2... External ring, 3
... Clamp ring, 4.4', 5...
・Support, 15...Plate spring, 16...
tube.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] an external frame, an external ring supported by a sphere or a wedge-shaped support at two sides of the center line on the upper and lower surfaces of the external frame so as to be able to swing in one direction; A clamp ring supported on two sides of the base by a ball or wedge-shaped support so as to be swingable in a direction perpendicular to the swing direction of the outer ring, and a ring-shaped arrangement on the inner periphery of the clamp ring. a clamping leaf spring, and an elastic tube made of an elastic material, which is provided in an expandable and contractable manner between the leaf spring and the clamp ring, and is inflated by air supply to press the leaf spring toward the axis and apply a clamping force. A clamp device comprising: